According to the National Science Education Standards, learning science is an active process. While constructing this unit, I tried to create lessons which require students to use both physical and mental activity and lessons which reflect the intellectual and cultural traditions that characterize the practice of contemporary science. To accomplish this I tried to incorporate lesson that focused on inquiry. The importance of this "active" learning process is that it helps students stay engaged because it demonstrates the relevance of scientific concepts to the outside world. Furthermore, this unit was designed for middle level students who usually have a lot of energy and benefit from being able to move about. These active practices will allow students to do just that.
Another technique that I used in preparing this unit was incorporating literacy. Literacy is an important issue in schools all across the country and I believe that it should be incorporated into all content areas. To integrate literacy into some of my lessons, I have added classroom activities such as reading for content and creative writing. I have also substituted readings from a second textbook on specific lessons where I found the regular textbook to be insufficient.
Finally, while creating this unit I tried to build each lesson off of its predecessor so that the students will be given the opportunity to construct a framework that will allow them to build new knowledge on their existing prior knowledge. Also, each lesson is set up in a format which helps to establish a routine within the classroom. Most of the lessons open with some form of an introduction activity, which is followed by one or two activities, and then closed with a review. This design allows the students to activate their prior knowledge, learn and practice new concepts, and then use a form of metacognition that gives them a chance to look back at what they have just learned.
Rationale:
According to the National Science Education Standards, learning science is an active process. While constructing this unit, I tried to create lessons which require students to use both physical and mental activity and lessons which reflect the intellectual and cultural traditions that characterize the practice of contemporary science. To accomplish this I tried to incorporate lesson that focused on inquiry. The importance of this "active" learning process is that it helps students stay engaged because it demonstrates the relevance of scientific concepts to the outside world. Furthermore, this unit was designed for middle level students who usually have a lot of energy and benefit from being able to move about. These active practices will allow students to do just that.
Another technique that I used in preparing this unit was incorporating literacy. Literacy is an important issue in schools all across the country and I believe that it should be incorporated into all content areas. To integrate literacy into some of my lessons, I have added classroom activities such as reading for content and creative writing. I have also substituted readings from a second textbook on specific lessons where I found the regular textbook to be insufficient.
Finally, while creating this unit I tried to build each lesson off of its predecessor so that the students will be given the opportunity to construct a framework that will allow them to build new knowledge on their existing prior knowledge. Also, each lesson is set up in a format which helps to establish a routine within the classroom. Most of the lessons open with some form of an introduction activity, which is followed by one or two activities, and then closed with a review. This design allows the students to activate their prior knowledge, learn and practice new concepts, and then use a form of metacognition that gives them a chance to look back at what they have just learned.